Monday, May 22, 2017

Y’all. We
got Algebra EOC scores in. And here is the email I got to send to parents last
night:

“This is going to
be my favorite email I send all year. We have received our EOC scores back from
the state of Texas. I am astounded by the scores! Each one of your children
tells a tale of growth in their own individual right, and I
want to celebrate each of them!! There are now three categories that your
student’s score falls into – passing (41% – 61%), meets grade level
(63% to 78%), and mastery of grade level (80% to 100%). I am very proud to say
that each category dramatically improved from last year!!!
They had an overall passing percentage of 98.7%!! Here are a few highlights:

·Not passing with a score of 30% last
year, to passing and almost doubling their score to 59% this
year!!

·Not passing with a score of 38% last
year, to not only passing.. but meets grade level with a 63% this year!!

·Passing by 5 questions with a 55%
last year, to mastery of grade level with an 80%!!

·Jumping from 7th grade
math to Algebra, to not only pass.. but meet grade level with a 72%!!

·

I am probably the
most proud of the increase of mastery of grade level. Last year, only
five students received this rating. This year, twenty-two students
received this rating!! An increase from 6.4% to 28.6%!!!

There are so many
stories to be celebrated!! I am beaming with pride. Your student’s hard work
paid off!! Their growth this year has been incredible!!”

Then, I put out my class
evaluation and am getting responses in. Here are some of my favorite answers!

What is your favorite memory
from class?

·I'll
never forget how you loved to use pretty and wacky fonts on everything.

·All of
the fun learning that I got to do with my friends and you. I'll always remember
how you were so happy on the first day. I'll remember how we organized the TEKS
on the first or second day, and I had hardly any idea what some of them were.
I'll remember being excited for math class. And I'll remember you and how you
tried to connect with all of us in your best way.

·Being
able to say "Oh, that was easy!" to something that looks complicated,
or finding out new things on the calculators!

·When I
learned who you were. I knew you would be a good teacher.

What is one goal you have accomplished this year?

·To atleast get really good at
one lesson which I did.

·To become stronger and
be able to fully understand equations.

·I was very proud of
myself because I made sure I would come to tutoring after school and even on
the Saturdays so I think that was one goal I accomplished knowing that I tried.

·Learning what a parabola is!
(Though I'm not sure that was ever a goal, but I was always curious as to how
that worked)

·increasing my brain copacity!

·One of my goals was to learn
new ways to solve problems.

What is one piece of
advice you would give to a student entering my class next year?

·I would tell them:
"It's okay to ask for help. You don't have to do it on your own, and your
classmates or Mrs.Sheridan can help you. You aren't alone, math can be
difficult sometimes, but you'll find it's easier with peers.

·"She
might be a little tough but it's what is best and she is a great teacher but
you can not give up keep trying because it will be better for you in the long
run.

·it's
called a learning opportunity but it is not an option

·Be
patient, it all makes sense in the end.

·don't
let anything get in the way of your learning

·I'd
say do the learning opportunities because they help a lot with exposure to the
content.

·To
focus, do the learning opportunities, take the reassesments, and take notes.

Before I leave the
school forever, I want you to know:

·Mrs
Sheridan you were honestly one of the best teachers I had. You have really good
style for a teacher too!! Love those Tory Burches! You're a good teacher

·That I
am thankful for your teaching and I hope that I have other great teachers like
you in the future. (Your class is pretty LIT by the way)

·That I
just want to thank you for pushing me to do my best anf not giving up on me.
You are a great teacher!!!

·You did
a great job of making sure we kept up all our work and you were very respectful
to all of us. Keep up the good work!!

·I like
cheese.

·Thank
you for helping us and willing to come on Saturdays so we could pass STAAR.
This math class was a little of the struggle but I'm glad that we both got
through it and none of us couldn't do it without you:)))

·Math is HARD how do you do
it? Other than that the around-the-rooms stations were always really really
fun. Thank you for teaching me these math skills that I will forget over the
summer! (The forget over the summer part is a joke did you laugh?)

·That this was the best and
funnest math class I ever took.

·I enjoyed having Mrs.
Sheridan as a teacher, even though Algebra was one of the hardest class ever.

·That I
appriciate all the time she has spent encouraging me and helping me grow as an
algebra student.

·Dear Mrs.Sheridan, I want
you to know that you are very much appreciated. You did a great job coming to a
new school and taking on this wild group that is the class of 2021. If I were
you, I would've gone insane by now, but you've done a great job at handling us.
And not only that, but also while keeping us in check, you made strong
relationships with your students. You let people open their eyes and see that
math doesn't always have to be "UGH", but that it can be a blast.
What you did this year was a hard feat, I'm sure, but you did it. Within a
school year, you made everyone's school life better, and I thank you for that.
I'm going to miss you, and I wish I could steal you away to take with me as I
move into high school. You are amazing, keep teaching in your wonderful ways,
don't lose your spirit and passion! With love,

Aw. "With love"... I make it a point to end every Friday with telling my students I love them. So yes, "with love" is the how and the why behind my days with 13/14 year olds and algebra.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Meal Planning. This is something I have always done.
Probably because I learned by watching my mom and grandmother do the same thing
while I was growing up. But my meal planning has evolved from when it was just
me in my apartment. Now I have a husband to think about, and I’m sure it will
evolve again once we have tiny people who eat real food too. So, before we get
started, please know that this is entirely adaptable to fit your needs! But I
thought it would be fun to document exactly how I meal plan for our needs each
week.

Here are our goals
for grocery shopping:

·Spend an average of $100 a week on groceries

·For me: Eat Gluten Free

1. Check out the ads
– The two main stores I shop at are Tom Thumb and Sprouts. However, Kroger is
the store I pass on my way home from school. I prefer to do my shopping on
Sunday afternoon (after my nap), but if that doesn’t work, then most of the
time it’s Monday after school.

**Bonus tip – Did you know that Sprouts honors both weeks
coupons on Wednesdays?! 2 weeks on one day!!!

I look at the specials and will make notes on the back of my
grocery list of items that are on sale – pork or shrimp, asparagus or bell
peppers, etc.

2. Next up is
recipes. I look through my pantry to see what’s left in the house from
previous weeks. Then I go to my resources. Here are my main resources in my
house:

The Grilling Book – I registered for this baby for our
wedding. The recipes in here are phenomenal and perfect for summer!!

Cast Iron Casseroles – My newest addition from my mom at
Christmas. The recipes in here are easily adaptable for gluten free and who
doesn’t love the cast iron!

Southern Living/Mama Kay’s Recipe Book – I like the
challenge of changing these recipes to be gluten free. These are our “special
treat” recipes, or Trav shot a duck and I need a new idea for how to cook it!

Taste of Heaven – My best kept secret that I’ve mentioned
several times before. Recipes from our “60 and over” group at church!
Casseroles and dips and desserts and more!!

I look for recipes that include the sale items. Then, I
think about crossover ingredients.. for instance I could use green onions in
“Monday’s recipe” and “Thursday’s recipe.”

**Bonus tip – Look for sides to turn into full meals. One of
the cast iron sides was asparagus and artichoke gratin.. I added slices of ham
steak to make it into one full meal!

3. Make Your Grocery
List.The one and only way to have a true list is this wonderful all out of
pad. It hangs on the side of our refrigerator and Trav can mark something when
he is out of something he wants. I also mark things as the week goes and it
helps me remember I need something like right now... we need toilet paper and butter.

4. Grocery Shop.Now you’re ready to head to the store! I love marking things off my list as I
shop. Do I buy things that are not on my list? Of course, I will buy a few of
the sale items to stick in the freezer to keep for future recipes! Once I
finish it’s like a game to see how close I am to $100. I keep a running tally
in my head (call me a math teacher!).. I know if I spent $130 the previous
week, my total should be around $70. And
if I can toot my horn… most of the time, I am pretty spot on!!

And then, I go home and feel accomplished and ready for
delicious meals during the week! What are your additions or adaptations for
when you meal plan?